In Harms Way
by DarlingZombie
Summary: ON HIATUS. SlightAU.Draco goes to San Francisco to see the World Cup and to get a book signed by his favorite author. What happens when he recognizes her from school? Just who is Harmony Potts? and whatever happened to Potter after the Battle of Hogwarts? HPDM slash
1. Chapter 1

_For all of seventh year, I wore my sleeves rolled up past my elbows. I did it because I wanted my forearms to show, so people would know that I was not a Death Eater. At the end of sixth year, I was supposed to kill Albus Dumbledore as my initiation into the Death Eaters. In the end, he offered me sanctuary and saved me from a life I was sure to hate. _

_From that day on, I was an outcast in Slytherin with only Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini as companions as they, too, went against their parents' wishes to join the Death Eaters._

_At first, we only concentrated on surviving in the snake pit. It was only when we'd heard about the battle that was to take place at the beginning of May at Hogwarts did we begin to formulate a plan to help bring down the dark and align ourselves with the light.

* * *

_

Draco was finishing his rounds for the night. The nightly patrols were his least favorite part about being Head Boy. They always seemed to drag on for eternity and only every once in a while did he ever catch someone out of bed and they almost always had a note saying they were returning to their corridors after a detention. There seemed to be no point in wandering the halls late at night to catch miscreants when there were rarely ever any miscreants to be caught.

He was just about to turn down the corridor that would lead him to the dungeons when he heard it. A soft rustling noise. Draco's heart leapt. He hadn't caught anyone in over a month and he wasn't about to let this chance to take house points slip by him.

Ignoring the possibility that it might just be a rat or an owl, Draco surged into the entrance hall in time to see six students attempting to open the door to the Great Hall noiselessly.

"You there! What do you think you're doing out of bed at this hour!?"

Six faces turned to look at Draco, all holding similar expressions of excitement, worry and disdain. Immediately, Draco recognized the faces in front of him. They belonged to the Gryffindor Trio, Weasel Junior, Longbottom and Loony-Lovegood. It was only then that Draco remembered the significance of the night. It was May Second. He hadn't heard what date exactly the battle was supposed to take place on, but he knew it was to take place at the beginning of May.

Potter stepped forward, grim determination on his face. "Malfoy, we don't have time for this."

Draco's eyes traveled from face to face and watched as each of the students began to dawn the same determination as Potter. "You guys are going to fight, aren't you?"

Potter stiffened. "If you try and stop us, I will petrify you into next year."

Draco's eyes landed back on Potter's. "I'm not going to stop you."

Potter's determination cracked. "What are you talking about?"

Draco took his time and walked up to the group. They were the sorriest looking group of misfits he'd ever seen, but the looks on each of their faces gave him a bit of the confidence they all had. He really felt they could win. "I am not stopping you."

Potter glanced from Draco's face to his uncovered forearms, then back at his face. "You're really going to let us go, aren't you?"

Draco held up his hands in surrender, but also to show his unmarked arms to the rest of the group. "Yes. I only ask one favor."

Potter looked at him skeptically, but didn't say anything.

Draco smirked and held out his hand for Potter to shake. "If you see my father, kick his sorry arse."

Potter's mouth turned up at the side with a half suppressed grin. He reached for Draco's hand and gave it a squeeze. Draco glanced down at their joined hands. He never noticed how small potter's hands were with fingers so thin they were almost feminine.

"Harry, we have to go."

Their hands broke apart at Weasel Junior's words. With one last nod of encouragement, the six of the tugged the door to the Great Hall open, no longer worrying about keeping quiet.

"Potter," Draco called out just before he disappeared behind the door.

"Malfoy," he said in return.

Draco began to walk backwards, towards the staircase to the dungeons. "You have a few snakes on your side. We'll keep the other snakes at bay."

Potter grinned again and waved. Draco turned around and jogged to the staircase.

As soon as he reached the bottom, he knocked on the portrait to the girls' dormitory. He thanked whatever powers that be that Pansy had answered the knock.

"What is it, Draco?" she asked groggily.

"It's tonight. Get ready."

That was enough to wake Pansy up from her half slumber. She nodded and closed the portrait door. He heard her mutter a few spells. He added his own strengthening charms and locking spells on the outside of the door.

Next, he went to the boys' dormitory. He gently nudged Blaise awake. He held a finger n front of his mouth to keep him quiet. He leaned down to whisper, "It's tonight. Let's get started."

Blaise was up and awake in a second and running to the portrait door, locking and strengthening it. Draco was moving from bed to bed, casting a quiet "Stupefy" on the students he knew to be Death Eaters and lifting the covers of the blankets of those he didn't know about to see if they bore the Dark Mark on their arm and stunning all those who did.

A crash was heard from somewhere up above them. Blaise and Draco locked eyes. The battle had begun.


	2. Chapter 2

Harmony "Harm" Potts hasn't always been known as such. She was known under a different name while she was in school. None of her classmates knew what her real name was, or even what gender. She had posed as a boy for her entire seven year education and only began living as a girl when she faked her own death in the Battle Of Hogwarts that ended the Second Wizarding War.

Harm was a best selling mystery suspense author and happy in her new life. She had only one friend and that friend was also her manager, Rocco Morocco. She was happy to keep everyone else at a distance, not letting fans get to know her, never giving suitors a second glance, abandoning all relations she had in school, even her best friends. The only person from her past who knew who she was in her new life was her old Transfiguration professor, Minerva McGonagall. Other than McGonagall and Rocco, she was alone and liked it that way. After all the fame and hype the name Harry Potter had given her, she let the fame brought on by her books as Harmony Potts stay at bay. After all, authors are considerably less interesting than World Saviors.

Harmony Potter had lived nearly eighteen years as Harry Potter, changing her last name to Potts and returning to her real name of Harmony only after the world was sure that Harry Potter had died saving the world from the darkest wizard of the ages, Lord Voldemort.

For the past ten years, Harmony Potts lived in relatively quiet peace in a flat high above San Francisco's Theater District, happily writing novel after novel, never meeting the fans that brought her books to the top of the best sellers' list. Today was the first interaction she'd ever had with fans and it was a book signing. After abandoning the name of Harry Potter, she thought she'd never be asked for an autograph again, but she was. She was happier about it this time around, though, because she knew she was famous for something she'd worked hard to accomplish, not something she had no control over such as getting cursed as a baby and nearly killing someone by simply living.

Harm passed a news stand on her walk back to her apartment. She couldn't help but look when someone called out her old name.

"Ten years since Harry Potter's death! A retelling of the epic Battle of Hogwarts by Potter's own friends! Words straight from Ron and Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger, Nevil Longbottom and Luna Lovegood! Get your copy! Five dollars!" The man saw that harmony had stopped to listen. "Aha! I see that we have a Potter Fan! Care to read up on the Battle that saved the wizarding world?"

Harm considered it. She hadn't spoken to any of the people mentioned since that fateful night. "Who is the article written by?" she asked in her best American accent.

"Why, none other than the world renowned Rita Skeeter!"

Harmony's smile faded. "I'll pass."

"But these are words directly from the friends of our savior!"

"A lot more happened that night than just Potter saving the world. More people were in the battle than just him and he wouldn't have been able to do it without them." It still irked Harm how the story came out. There was an entire battle, but all that people remembered was that Potter had died killing He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. "Plus, Skeeter has a way of making you say one thing, but twisting it to mean something completely different. On second thought, how many issues do you have here?"

The newsman looked questioningly at her, but answered, "About two hundred. Why?"

"I'll buy them all off you." Harm pulled her backpack off her back and fished out her wallet. Before the newsman could formulate a response, she had a check written out for a thousand dollars. "And to whom do I make the check out to? _The Whole Shebang Newsstand?_"

The newsman looked around in wonder. Someone was going to buy a thousand dollars worth of the same magazine! "Yes, that's fine."

She wrote it out and handed him the check. Glancing around to be sure that she wasn't being watched by muggles, she pulled her wand out and quickly shrunk all the magazines so they would all fit in a single shopping bag.

"It's a pleasure doing business with you, Miss Potts," said the man with a large smile on his face. Harm simply smiled and nodded. As soon as she was far enough away that she was certain he wouldn't see, she threw the bag of magazines into a garbage can. She'd rather no one read how Skeeter could twist her old friends' words around.

* * *

Draco sighed and leaned back in his chair. The British Minister of Magic and the American Secretary of Supernatural had been arguing for the past half hour and it was wearing thin on Draco's nerves.

"It's simply not safe to have something of such dark magnitude out in the open where thousands can potentially be affected by it." The British MoM punctuated his sentence by slamming his hand on the table.

"It is completely benign," the American SoS replied calmly in her Texan accent. "It hasn' shown any signs of activity since the nineteen thirties. Plus, it's the Sweetwater Allstars' good luck charm. You don't expect them to play the World Cup without it."

"I don't care if it is the cure for dragon pox. The Slyphur Diamond cannot be present at this year's World Cup. I simply forbid it!"

"So what you're sayin', Sir," she said with disgust dripping from her lips, "is that you forfeit the World Cup because you're scared of a little diamond?"

"Forfeit!?" Draco found that the minister seemed more upset about forfeiting the Cup than he was about the presence of the Slyphur Diamond. "I said no such thing! We would never forfeit to a lousy bunch of yanks like you!"

Before this could turn into a brawl between nations, Draco spoke up. "Sir, if I went to the arena and saw to it that the Slyphur Diamont was, in fact, benign, would you approve the Wimbourne Wasps to depart for the Cup next week?"

Both political leaders looked at him, both wearing surprised looks as if they had forgotten his presence in the room.

The American SoS sat in her chair. "I don't see any problem with Mr. Malfoy coming to inspect it to tell you what I've already said in here."

The minister sneered at the contempt in her voice, but sat down nonetheless. "I suppose that would be satisfactory. Are you certain you will be able to test it properly?"

Draco smiled his most convincing smile at the minister. "I didn't get to be the head of the Dark Artifacts Office for nothing, Minister."

"Then it's settled. You shall depart for America in four days and report straight back when you are finished inspecting the Diamond."

"Whoa, now, Minister. If he's going to be the solution to our dispute here, he deserves a little sumthin' extra." The secretary reached into her purse and pulled out a small booklet. "Here you go, Mr. Malfoy, as thanks for your help and cooperation."

Draco took the booklet without looking at what it was. "Thank you, Secretary. It's really my pleasure. I've been meaning to request an appointment to examine the Slyphur Diamond for some time now."

The American SoS smiled a smile that was more of a grimace as she stood. "It's been… a pleasure to see you again, Minister."

The Minister didn't even bother to pretend to smile. "Until next time, Secretary."

Draco watched as they shook hands mechanically, more to be diplomatic than because they valued each other's company. He wondered why they didn't just firecall each other instead of making a big deal out of actually requesting the American Secretary to floo to the ministry.

The American Secretary turned to Draco before she reached the fireplace. "Oh, and Mr. Malfoy?"

Draco smiled at her. "Yes, Secretary?"

"Be sure to drop by the Magical Capital while visiting. I do always enjoy your company."

Draco wanted to vomit at the blatant come-on. "Of course, Secretary, if time permits."

She winked and tossed her orange curls over her shoulder just before she vanished in green flame, back to America.

Draco bid the Minister goodbye and left the office. Once he was in the hallway, he looked at the booklet gifted to him from the Secretary. It was a bundle of ten tickets to the World Cup, all seats in the Secretary's Box at the Arena. He would have been more flattered or even thankful if he hadn't already had tickets to see the game in the Invitation Box, exclusive to those invited by the Sweetwater Allstars' and Wimbourne Wasps' coaches and owners. Marcus Flint owned the Wimbourne Wasps and had sent him an invitation months ago, as soon as the teams were chosen for this year's World Cup. After Flint graduated, he kept in touch with Draco if only to keep up on how his old house team was doing. Flint gave season tickets to all classmates who ever played with him, though he only gave Draco tickets to the World Cup due to their long standing friendship and pen pal habits.

Draco sighed. He'd have to make an appearance in the Secretary's box, if only to say that he was sitting in the Invitation box with friends. He really disliked the Secretary. If it weren't for the fact that she ran the wizarding population of America better than the Minister ran the wizarding population of Great Britain, he'd hate her and treat her with the same disdain that the Minister did. He didn't like her, but he respected her.

* * *

Draco apparated to just outside the apparation wards and walked briskly to his front door. The first thing he always did when he got home was check his mail. He had the usual letters from Pansy, Flint and Blaise, the Daily Profit and a postcard from the United States.

He set aside everything but the postcard turning it over in his hands. On one side, it held an illustration of a woman with a quill in her hand and a book in the other, with the words _Auror Adventures - Case 7: Rogue Slayers in New York City_ floating above the woman. On the other side was a short typed letter from the Harmony Potts Fan Club stating that there would be a signing of Harmony Potts' latest book in San Francisco in only a few days.

Draco clutched the postcard. His favorite author was going to be having a signing in the very city he was going to be staying in while he was staying there. He couldn't believe his luck.

He loosened his grip on the postcard, careful not to show emotion, even to his house elves. He could barely keep himself from running to his room to begin packing for his trip, filled with a new excitement. The first thing he put on his bed to pack was his pristine copy of the most recent _Auror Adventures_ book.


	3. Chapter 3

"What on earth are you wearing, Harm?"

Harm looked down at her outfit. It consisted of loose jeans and a vintage Weird Sisters concert t-shirt. "What's wrong with the Weird Sisters?"

"Harm, honey, nothing is wring with the weird sisters." Rocco tutted his tongue, as if lecturing a child. "This is the first time the public is going to have a glimpse at Harmony Potts. Don't you want to seem a bit more glamorous?"

Harm shrugged. "I'd rather seem personable and relatable than glamorous and God-like."

Rocco sighed. "Well, as your manager, I'd like to point out that your outfit makes you look like a boy. Like, a sophomore boy in high school. I thought you were done with that phase of your life."

"Well, I spent seven years as a boy, I'm comfortable in this. I'd feel deceiving if I wore a dress and heals. That's just not me."

Rocco looked at her hair. "You could at least let me do your hair. I could straighten it and make you seem more feminine. Like a tom boy, not like a boy."

Harm smiled. "You know as well as I do how my hair doesn't like to cooperate."

"I suppose. Are you sure you're ready for this? You haven't even released a photograph to the public. They have no idea what to expect, and to be perfectly honest, neither do we."

Harm took one last look in the mirror. The only makeup she wore was a small smudge of skin colored cream (she couldn't remember the name of the stuff) to cover her scar. After making sure that her scar was safely gone from sight, she turned back to Rocco. "I'm ready."

He handed her a copy of her book and led her to the back door of the bookstore. They heard the announcement of her presence being shouted to the two-hundred-plus people in the small shop. Rocco held the handle of the door and mouthed a countdown to Harm. _Three. Two. One. Go!_

* * *

Draco's heart was pounding. He was actually going to meet Harmony Potts, if only for a moment. Ever since he'd first read _Auror Adventures - Case 1: Purebloods in Castro_, he'd been hooked on her books. He was near the front of the store, so he was at the back of the line to get his book signed.

The store manager stood on top of a chair and attempted to quiet the crowd with little success. "Now, I know that some of you guys have been waiting since last night, but you need to quiet down." No one was listening. It was already ten minutes past when Potts was supposed to have come out and the entire crowd was restless. Someone whispered something to the shop owner. "Attention! All Auror Adventure fans, the moment you've been waiting for is nearly upon us!"

Draco winced as the volume in the small shop increased. He tried to slow his pounding heart.

"Now, I give you best selling author, Harmony Potts!"

Draco couldn't stop himself. He broke out in a wide grin and joined in the crowd's cheers. He couldn't see Potts, but he still felt his adrenalin spike at the thought of being in the same room as his favorite author.

"Hey, guys, I'm Harm. I'll be here for a few hours signing books and such… well, I guess you guys know that, huh?" Draco closed his eyes and tried to imagine a face to go with the voice. It wasn't particularly musical. It actually seemed youthful, which didn't make sense because of the heavy themes in the books. Draco thought that only someone who had seen true darkness could have written them. The voice seemed to belong to a teenager. "I'd like to ask you guys to not take pictures, on muggle, magic or phone cameras. I have a serious aversion to cameras." Draco imagined a petite woman with long straight hair and blue eyes, something that would match the name "Harmony" well. With her voice, he imagined her a little younger than him, maybe early twenties. Her accent seemed a bit off, even for an American. Maybe she was Canadian. "Well, lets get started, these books aren't going to sign themselves!"

For the first time, Draco realized just how many people were in front of him in line. The smile he'd been wearing since Potts was ushered into the room faded. It would take hours to reach a point where he could even see her. Draco sighed and opened his book and began to reread _Auror Adventure 7_ to pass the time.

* * *

Harm's hand was cramping to an all new extreme. Snape's essays had nothing on autographing hundreds of books. "Rocco, when's my next break?"

Rocco cast a quick tempus charm. "In about ten minutes, then you get fifteen minutes." When Harm only grimaced, he added, "You're the one who insisted on staying until closing."

Harm groaned. "I had no idea how much work autographing would be…"

Rocco smiled. "Fame's a bitch, huh?"

Harm chucked to herself as she reached for another book. _You have no idea…_

Harm handed the signed book to the customer and smiled at the praise he was showering on her without really hearing it. Once he left behind the curtain, she said, "Kay, send in the next five."

* * *

Draco closed the book. He was nearly at the front now, only four people were in front of him. He hadn't realized Potts was signing the books from behind a curtain until he swore he was close enough to see where she'd made her announcement hours before. Once he reached the point where he thought he'd be able to see her, he was severely disappointed to find that she was behind a curtain. He quickly got over his disappointment and replaced that feeling with growing anticipation.

"Kay, send in the next five."

There it was again! Her impossibly youthful voice. Draco called back the image of a long haired blue eyed woman, wondering how close he'd be in his expectation to the reality of Harmony Potts.

He was ushered behind the curtain. What he saw stopped him in his tracks. Harmony Potts did not have long straight hair, but short, choppy, messy back hair. He couldn't see her face from where he was due to the fact that she was leaning over a book, marker in hand. Under the table, her long legs stretched forward, showing that she was not short, but probably abnormally tall for a girl. Draco could see her shoulders through her t-shirt, pointing out like those of a skeleton's, making her seem frail and fragile.

Just as she lifted her head and bid the fan at the front of the line goodbye, the person in front of Draco shifted, blocking her face from view. Draco held back the curse he wanted to throw at the wizard in front of him. No, he wouldn't let his annoyance get the better of him. He _was_ a Malfoy after all. Draco resolved himself to silently waiting for his chance to catch a glimpse of her face. When he missed his chance to see her face for the third time in a row, though, he was at the end of his rope. He wanted to know what she looked like, damn it!

Finally, the wizard in front of him walked out of the curtained area with his autographed copy of the book. Draco stepped forward and set his book down on the table. "It's an honor, Miss Potts, to finally meet you."

She nodded and slid the book in front of her. She opened the cover. "Am I making this out to anyone special?"

Draco noticed again that her American accent was a little different from the other Americans he'd spoken to. "Yes, if you could make it out to Draco, that would be wonderful."

Harmony Potts' face shot up and every light bulb in the store burst, sending glass everywhere. Draco met her brilliant green eyes and felt his heart stop.

They both stared at each other while people ran around them, trying to locate the sudden burst of magic and clean up the glass before anyone got hurt. After what seemed like forever, Draco whispered, "Harry Potter?"

* * *

No. this couldn't be happening. No one was supposed to know who she was. No one. Harry Potter was dead. No one who knew Harry Potter was supposed to know Harmony Potts.

"Harry Potter?"

Draco's mouth was trembling as he said Harm's old name. The sound of her name seemed to snap her out of her panic induced trance.

"I'm sorry, you're mistaken." She leaned forward and signed the book with the generic response _To my biggest fan, Draco. Keep adventuring! Harm Potts. _"I know I look a little like The Late Harry Potter, but he's been dead for ten years and I'm a girl. Thanks, though, it sure is flattering to be mistaken for him." The lies simply rolled off her tongue. She'd planned the response for just this type of situation, she's only hoped she'd never need to actually say the words.

Malfoy, though, wasn't convinced. "Potter, it's me, Malfoy."

"I really have no idea what you're talking about. I've never met you in my life. Sod off." Harm mentally cursed herself for letting her accent slip back to natural with some British slang.

"I know I'm not crazy, Potter! I know it's you!"

Rocco ran back in to the curtained off area. Harm sighed in relief. "Rocco, I think I'll be taking my break now."

Rocco saw the look in her eyes and nodded, abandoning the schedule. "Take as long as you need."

Harm had almost made it to the back door of the bookshop when Malfoy surged forward. "Potter, stop this! I know it's you!"

In an instant, Harm had her wand in her hand pointed at Malfoy's throat. "Stop calling me that. My name is Harmony Potts." She thrust the signed book at him. "Take your book and leave me alone."

Malfoy's face was pure fury. He snatched the book and snarled out, "I'll figure this out, Potter."

Harm watched as Draco shook off the arms of security guards as they readied to escort him out. He pushed past the curtain. She sighed and opened the door to the back room.

In under a minute, Rocco was sitting on the ground next to her. "So what the hell was that about?"

Harm abandoned her American accent. She only ever let her guard down when she was with Rocco. "He's from where I grew up. He knew me before I came to America."

Rocco's eyes lit with understanding. "Oh! So he knows that you're really…" Harm nodded. "And he recognized you? After all these years?" She nodded again. "Oh, honey." Rocco reached around her, squeezing her in his arms. "I'm so sorry, I had no idea. I thought a signing in America would be safe. I guess the World Cup brings tourists from all over."

Harm sniffled and tried to hold back her panic tears. "Before he saw me, he said he was a fan. Maybe he's just here for the signing. It's strange, though, to think that someone who hated me became a fan of my work," she mused. She knew he didn't hate her as much as he let on. His actions on the night of the Battle of Hogwarts proved that enough, but the fury on his face just seemed so genuine. Maybe he'd only helped with the Battle because he sided with the Light, not with Harry-Bloody-Potter.

"It is ironic," Rocco agreed. "Want me to hunt him down and obliviate him?"

Harm shook her head. "No, memory charms can be broken and if he finds this memory suppressed, he'll know who I am for sure."

Rocco nodded. "Should we find him and just try and convince him not to tell anyone?"

She shook her head again. "No, he won't tell anyone unless he has proof. We'll just let him look back on today and discover what a fool he was. He'll be embarrassed that ha had such an outburst."

"You sure?"

Harm nodded. She stood up and brushed her jeans off, knocking non-existent dirt of as she did so. "Sorry for breaking the lightbulbs. he csaught me by surprise. Lets get back to work. We still have a billion books to sign."

Rocco smiled. "That's the spirit!"


End file.
